


impermanent stains

by langst101



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkward Keith (Voltron), Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mild Blood, References to Depression, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 15:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13549890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/langst101/pseuds/langst101
Summary: tw: self-harm, mild mentions of bloodprompt: dirty laundryit's keith's turn to do the laundry at the castle.he inadvertently discovers something about lance.





	impermanent stains

**Author's Note:**

> this idea popped into my head the other day so i just wrote it as a spur of the moment thing~
> 
> (just a little drabble, don't expect literary brilliance ahaha) 
> 
> i'd imagine this takes place sometime between seasons 3 and 4.

Keith huffed a grunt, hauling the large sack of awful-smelling clothes over his shoulder.

 

If you’d thought their high tech flying space castle had it’s own special self-sufficient laundry system, well, you’d be half right.

 

The castle did indeed have a special laundry room, with a big machine that Coran had repaired quite early into their space journey. All one had to do was to put all the laundry into it, and every washing setting and speed was sorted out automatically.

 

However, this meant that someone still had to sort out the clothes manually and physically put them in and take them out of the machine. The rooms of the castle each had labelled hampers, and the paladins would rotate laundry collection and dump duty every movement or so.

 

This week had been Keith’s turn.

 

Dumping the clothes out on the floor unceremoniously, he grimaced when he saw a filthy shirt of Lance's sticking out from under the pile, stained beyond belief. 

 

Wait.

 

The stain was a familiar dark reddish-brown, and when Keith reluctantly raised it to his face, the shirt’s metallic smell made his nose sting.

 

Had Lance suffered injuries from one of their battles, then failed to report them to the rest of the team?

 

To be honest, it wouldn’t be too far a stretch of the imagination to believe.

 

Lance had always shied away from the healing pod, sometimes even pretending for hours on end that he was fine before a fellow team member would point out that he was walking with a limp or dripping blood onto the floor.

 

_‘Jesus Christ, this idiot,’_ Keith thought to himself, before marching determinedly towards the Blue Paladin’s door.

 

\----------

 

The somewhat irritated but mostly concerned red paladin knocked on the door in front of them for what seemed to be the 100th time in the past minute he’d be standing there.

 

“Lance, I know you’re in there. LANCE!”

 

Gritting his teeth, his patience gave out and he forcefully kicked the door, foot landing inches away from Lance’s face which had suddenly poked through the now wide open door.

 

“K-Keith?” his voice was shaky and he seemed unnaturally nervous, but in his rage Keith didn’t take any notice of this and instead chose to stomp grumpily into his fellow paladin’s room.

 

“What the hell Lance! I’ve been knocking on your door for ages!”

 

He grabbed Lance’s arm, drawing a high-pitched squeak from the boy as he tugged him to look him in the face.

 

Raising the offending shirt with his other hand, he spat his concern out in his usual aggressive manner, not noticing the trembling boy in his grip.

 

“Have you been hiding your injuries from the team again? It’s not healthy to do this Lance, we need you in top shape for every battle-”

 

He squeezed Lance’s arm in an attempt to emphasise his point, not expecting Lance to suddenly whimper loudly in pain.

 

“Lance…?”

 

“Don’t touch me,” Lance whispered, wrenching his arm from Keith’s grasp.

 

Finally looking down, Keith’s eyes widened as he saw blood soaking through the boy’s jacket, spotting and staining his attire like little polka dots.

 

He wrenched the jacket off of Lance in a panic, ripping the blue paladin’s shirt off and sharply breathing in when he finally saw Lance’s bare arms.

 

Lance’s arms were bloody and crimson-stained, neatly-placed gashes criss-crossing down the length of both of his long limbs.

 

The blue paladin cried out, scrambling away from Keith and curling into a ball, raising his arms in a defensive stance. The red droplets adorning his arms dripped down slowly, and Keith’s heart hurt at the pitiful sight.

 

“Lance, did you do this to yourself? Why… how…”

 

He faltered when he saw the terrified look in Lance's eyes.

 

"Forget it. Let's get you cleaned up."

 

Terror turned into confusion as the bloodied boy lowered his arms, looking up at Keith with such vulnerability that it made Keith’s heart stop for just a second.

 

"But... why... you won't tell the others?"

 

Keith paused for a moment, but couldn't find an answer, instead turning around to look for some medical supplies.

 

\----------

 

Lance snorted.

 

"You suck even more than me at this."

 

"Shut up," Keith huffed back.

 

After 3 more failed tries at dressing the wound, he gave in, groaning into the wall next to Lance's arm.

 

"Look, okay, I'll do it properly, so chill." Lance said in a surprisingly gentle voice, taking the gauze from Keith's hands and slowly winding it around his own arm, tying it off expertly.

 

It seemed too practiced and calculated for Lance, who was always all over the place, bouncing off the walls with hyperactivity, moved by his sheer passion and willpower.

 

Keith's interest was piqued.

 

"If you're so good at that, then why-" he gestured to Lance's bloodstained jacket wordlessly.

 

Lance's face dropped, and he broke eye contact.

 

"No one usually cares to notice anyway, so not much point in doing it properly." he replied, voice tinged with an icy edge.

 

Oh fuck. He fucked up.

 

Keith panicked.

 

"Fuck, sorry, I- I know I'm not good at the whole comforting thing, I should have known, shit-"

 

In his frenzy, he somehow found himself accidentally falling into Lance's outstretched arms.

 

He was about to apologise for that, too, when they suddenly wrapped around him tightly. He tensed, but let up when he felt the trembling body around him.

 

The crook of his neck suddenly felt warm and damp.

 

"C-can we... uh... can you... um... stay?" Lance mumbled into his throat.

 

Keith awkwardly but gently reached a hand up to pat his hair, lips forming what he hoped was a comforting smile.

 

"Okay."


End file.
